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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23739124">You’ve wasted too little of your life</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume'>EleenaDume</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In Between the Stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Cuddles, Dating, Day Off, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hera finally relaxing for a bit, Hera is a workaholic, Kanan and Hera are alone with Chopper, Kanan being a worried dork, Kissing, Living Together, Oneshot, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: A New Dawn, Pre-Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, Shameless Kanera-Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Swimming, actually more of an established relationship yet to be labeled, kind of, relationship labeling, short vacation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:14:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,393</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23739124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Kanan feels like Hera doesn’t even stop for breath in while engaging for the rebellion.</p><p>She’s been doing this for way too long, always thinking of others, never thinking of herself.</p><p>One day, he decides to take her to Naboo for a couple of hours so she can relax for a bit.</p><p>...he might also finally ask her to be his girlfriend while he's at it.</p><p> </p><p>Part of a long series of rebels stories that will be published once I manage to actually get some translating done, but can be read separately.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In Between the Stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709959</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You’ve wasted too little of your life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey there :)</p><p>Quick heads up before we get started to avoid confusion: if I use »« instead of regular quotation marks, it means the person is thinking something and not saying it out loud.</p><p>Based off of a universe where Kanan and Hera started dating some time prior to “Spark of Rebellion”.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kanan sometimes felt like Hera didn’t even pause her work to breathe.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Between missions, she spent her time noting down supplies they needed, calculating how the amount of credits they had could be spent in the most sensible way, analyzing data and listening to communication-channels to find new missions for them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A couple of minutes later, she was repairing the Ghost, tinkering around on Chopper and talking to the mysterious Fulcrum guy that contacted them every once in a while and that they knew little more about than his cover name.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kanan helped wherever he could, but that didn’t keep her from working well past midnight, and she had yet to hit the brick wall.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">»How do you do it?«, he wondered, as once again, the twi’lek woke him up by slipping into bed beside him at half past two in the night.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, well... if that isn’t the woman that never sleeps,” he joked. “You coming to join me after all?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">The woman yawned.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” she apologized in a quiet voice.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera sounded tired, which really wasn’t all that surprising considering how late – or rather, early – it was.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pulled on the blanket until it covered them both and snuggled up to him. He smiled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s alright.” He put his arms around her from behind, and the pilot took one of his hands into hers.<br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He thought about simply closing his eyes and trying to sleep again, but he decided against it. It had always been hard for him to fall back asleep once he had woken up, anyway. “How long have you been doing this?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Huh?” That question kind of surprised her. “What makes you ask that – at a time like this, nonetheless?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just... I find your stamina madly impressive but also deeply worrying, because I have no idea how your body can deal with that without you dropping dead, so I’ve just been wondering how long you’ve been doing this to yourself.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I took my first flying lesson at the age of fourteen. By the age of sixteen, I’d left Ryloth. So... I’ve been doing this for a while now,” she explained, her voice tinged with sadness. “I never regretted leaving.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So since the age of sixteen, you fly across the galaxy, from one end to the other, and try to help people wherever you can. That’s really impressive and amazing, but...” He trailed his fingers along her lekku. “Hera, you’ve wasted too little of your life.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s that supposed to mean?”, she mumbled irritatedly and almost started laughing because of how weird what he had just said sounded.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was dead serious.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You live too little. You need to do something for yourself every once in a while, before you completely lose yourself in your selflessness.“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Love, you’re talking crazy,” she replied with slight amusement in her voice. “It’s three o’clock, you can barely even think straight. Just go back to sleep.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But by now, he was way too wide awake to just go back to sleep.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, I’m serious. Hera, you... I want to take you somewhere where we have our peace. Even if it’s just for a couple of hours.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nice try, but the Ghost is my ship. I’m not letting you pilot it, and that is final.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That isn’t what I’m after, I swear,” he laughed. “Chopper can navigate if you’re okay with that. And we can take the Phantom for a part of the ride. That’s not what this is about. I just want you to be able to relax for once.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The twi’lek went quiet for a moment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright. Fine. But let’s just go to sleep for now, okay?”, she reluctantly agreed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He grinned triumphantly and kissed her forehead.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wonderful. Sleep well.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The young woman snuggled even closer up to him and a smile crept across her face as she closed her eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just so you know, this is actually my favorite part of the day.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It took a while for Kanan to be able to finally convince her to take him up on his offer, but a couple of weeks later, he took the twi’lek to Naboo. The Ghost stayed at the other side of the system, and he piloted the Phantom into orbit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she stepped out of the ship, she breathed in the cold evening air.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The air was damp and filled with the smell of dewy grass.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Why did you pick this place?” Hera looked at him with a decent amount of curiosity. “I mean, sure, the planet </span> <span class="s2">is</span> <span class="s1"> pretty beautiful... but so are many others. So why come here, out of all the places in the galaxy? Have you been here before?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His cheeks turned scarlet.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have. Once. It was a while ago, maybe four to five years. For a...” He harrumphed. “...completely legal cargo transport. But I was here early, and since I had some time left before anyone came to pick up the cargo, I decided to look around... and I realized I like it here. So much, in fact, that I jokingly decided to take my future girlfriend out on a date here, should I ever have one.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The former Jedi took her hand.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I know, we’ve been in this ‘whatever-the-force-this-is’-thing for a while, and maybe you could already call that a relationship – please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m seriously lacking experience with this –, but I never officially asked you if you </span> <span class="s2">want</span> <span class="s1"> to be in a relationship with me, so I want to make good on that right now.” He seemed extremely nervous. “Uh... do you... maybe want to be my girlfriend? I mean, you don’t have to, if...”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera smiled as she leaned forward to end the former Jedi‘s incoherent mumbling with a kiss.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I do.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He immediately put his arms around her and kissed her again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Force, I love you so much.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wasn’t sure she had ever seen Kanan this happy before – and it was beyond adorable how nervous he had been about asking and how seemingly surprised he was at her reply, considering everything that had already happened between them was indeed basically already what people defined as a relationship, just without the official label.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The pilot smiled to herself as she remembered how she had thought of that topic back when they’d just met.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">»Apparently there’s time for something else in my war, after all.«</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For a while, they just sat there in silence, until finally, Kanan spoke up again.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span> <span class="s2">Sooo... </span> <span class="s1">now that we’re done with the official part... do you want to go swimming for a bit?” Ge nodded towards the lake to his .left that was surrounded by small hills. The moons reflected on its surface. “I mean, we don’t have to, but...”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He trailed off when he saw the hesitation in her expression.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera shook her head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, that’s not it. I like the idea. And you did give me a heads up, after all, which is why I’m already wearing a swimsuit underneath my regular clothes. It’s just... it’s been ages since I went swimming for the last time,” she stated. “I think I’ve only been swimming two to three times, when I was on vacation with my parents, back when I was little. That was way back before the clone wars even started.” She sighed. “I want to go swimming... just maybe don’t blame me if I drown.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He squeezed her hand.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Swimming isn’t something you unlearn, sweetheart. It will come back to you, I promise. No need to be so nervous. And in the worst case, I’ll come rescue you, I promise. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a decent swimmer, and I’ll be even better when it comes to rescuing the love of my life.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He kissed her cheek. She chuckled.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Alright, whatever you say, love. I guess I’ll just have to trust you on that one. Where </span> <em> <span class="s2">did</span> </em> <span class="s1"> you learn to swim, anyway?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We had to learn it back at the temple. It was part of our basic survival training. So it’s also been a while for me, even if not quite as long as for you, and I’ve probably had a lot more practice than you,” he explained as he started taking off his top.</span>
</p><p class="p2">“Do you miss it? The temple, I mean,” she asked with a careful delicacy, very well knowing that anything related to his Jedi-past was a touchy subject for him.</p><p class="p2">She undressed until finally, she wore nothing more than a snow-white swimsuit.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not really. I mean, there’s people I miss – my friends, the Masters and Jedi-Knights I got along with and looked up to... but I don’t miss their way of life. Not even a little.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He really didn’t. If things hadn’t happened the way they had, he would never have met Hera – and even if he </span> <span class="s2">had</span> <span class="s1"> met her, he wouldn’t have been allowed to kiss her, much less anything that went beyond that.</span></p><p class="p2">...but remembering his time back at the Jedi temple still hurt, so he quickly banished the thought to the back of his mind</p><p class="p2">»I can’t change what happened back then. I‘m here now. I‘m here with Hera. That’s the only thing that matters for today.«</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Their remaining clothes stayed inside the Phantom, the only other things she brought outside was the towels Kanan had brought.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The water felt cold at first, but it was actually pretty nice once she got used to the temperature.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Feels good, doesn’t it? To get away from it all for once.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera sighed happily.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This was a really good idea. Who knows how many more chances we will have to go on dates like this...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She would never admit out loud how desperately she had needed a break after the last couple of weeks, or that she hadn’t felt this good in what was probably months, so she just silently thanked the force that he knew her so well, even if it also ticked her off regularly.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Exactly. I have to make sure I take </span> <em> <span class="s2">you</span> </em> <span class="s1"> out on a couple of dates before the Empire takes </span> <em> <span class="s2">us</span> </em> <span class="s1"> out,” he remarked, and she bit back a laughter.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just meant we won’t have time for stuff like this once the Empire is hot on our trails, but sure, go ahead and kill both of us, that also works fine as an explanation.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You </span> <span class="s2">love</span> <span class="s1"> my optimism,” the young man joked, and instead of replying, she just splashed his face with a handful of cold water.</span></p><p class="p2">He blinked as he wiped the water drops from his eyes.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey! That was really childish,” he complained, pretending to be mad, which he actually wasn’t in the slightest.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She laughed and winked at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I told you I haven’t been swimming since I was little, so you can’t exactly blame me.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">Kanan beamed. Truth be told, he really enjoyed seeing her relax and fooling around for once.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re forgiven. Who could stay mad at a woman with a laugh as beautiful as yours?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He put his arms around her and kissed her. She kissed him back, her hands placed on his hips.</span>
</p><p class="p2">“Would you now consider actually swimming a little? I think some practice couldn’t hurt, I don’t get to swimming often, after all, and we can still make out later once we get out of the water,” she suggested when they separated.</p><p class="p2">Kanan laughed.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I like the way you think.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The first couple of meters swimming weren’t even that easy, but she had soon accustomed herself to the movements and the water resistance again, and then it started getting easier.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually, she even started having fun, and she was almost proud of the fact that she could dive without any issue.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’d always been afraid of diving under when she was little, especially the part where her head went under water. Not that there was actually anything particularly bad about that part, as she now knew, except for it being a little unpleasant to open your eyes when underwater.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I guess it’s true that this is one of the skills you never unlearn once you’ve picked them up... even if you can get rusty.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That was at least the case for her. For Kanan... not so much.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay, I’m going to question you, and I’m expecting an honest answer here. Genetically speaking, how large a part of you is a fish?”, she teased him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He laughed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Like I said, that’s one of the things we had to learn. We had training lessons pretty much permanently. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the one subject I was actually top of my class.” The former Jedi gave her a broad grin. “Thank you for this. I’m really enjoying seeing that there’s stuff I’m better at then you – even if it’s very few ones.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera rolled her eyes and laughed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She enjoyed this – maybe a little too much. Their fight against the Empire was far from being won. On the contrary: it had barely even started. Soon, they would be back on the battlefield... the image almost seemed surreal in this peaceful, beautiful environment.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What was left of the night by the time they grew tired of swimming, they spent snuggled up to each other on the dewy grass.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She had placed her head on his chest, and he had put his arms around her. For a while, they just laid there like that, quietly looking up at the stars.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’d love to come here more often,” she said, sighing dreamily. “You know, when all is said and done and the two of us have single-handedly saved the galaxy from the Empire.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He laughed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m glad you like it here. Who knows, maybe we’ll adopt a couple kids we can take here? Someday in a faraway future?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">A small smile formed on the twi’lek’s lips.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was a nice thought to finally settle down somewhere when all was said and done... to imagine what a future together would be like, even if it was still many years away.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hera wasn’t much of a dreamer, and she was a lot more of a realist than she was an optimist. And, realistically speaking, they probably wouldn’t survive everything that was ahead of them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But imagining a future with him for a moment made her happy either way.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The image made her hopeful.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I think I’d like that.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p><p>In case anyone was confused by that: I‘m assuming that the fact that humans and twi'leks can have biological children isn’t widely known, so that’s why Kanan speaks about adopting children instead of having them.</p><p>Hope you enjoyed it, feedback would be much appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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